Scanning laser confocal microscopy provides powerful analytic capabilities for biomedical research. Among these is the capability to simultaneously identify the location of several tagged particles and to determine their spatial relationship with one another in tissue slices or in cell cultures. The ability to combine fluorescent probes indicating the physiological state of the tissue with other optical and electrophysiological measurements further enhances the usefulness of this instrument. The Chicago Medical School does not have a confocal microscope. This application requests funding for a basic confocal microscope and accessory equipment for live cell studies and post- acquisition digital analysis to be placed in a dedicated core facility for the shared use of the investigators on this application. To ensure the successful installation and use of this instrument, The Chicago Medical School has committed to a three year support plan equal in value to half the purchase amount of the instrument. The users on this application represent four basic science departments at the University, the majority of whom have research interests in neuroscience. The Principal Investigator is in the Department of Neuroscience, which will serve as the core facility's home department. Users in the group have interests in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and the development of therapeutic intervention strategies, in the interaction of dopamine receptors and excitatory amino acid receptors in the mediation of drug addiction, in the regulation and function of neuropeptides and their receptors, in the hormonal regulation of neuronal transcription and neurite extension, in the regulation of the blood-brain-barrier, and in the regulation of neurogenesis in the adult CNS. Other research interests include the functional properties of gap junction mutations and in the synthesis of extracellular matrix. All of these research interests are relevant to a number human disease states or to the problem of drug addiction. The availability of a confocal facility at the Chicago Medical School would provide new analytic capabilities and greatly enhance research into each of these areas.